Monday, August 25, 2014

Last week, Campbell Live carried a report alleging a breach of statutory reporting requirements by EQC. EQC had failed to file a statement of performance expectations for the coming year, an apparent violation of section 149C of the Crown Entities Act. Because it also potentially affectd the government's financial position in the PREFU, I was all over it, and demanded that the responsible EQC staff be prosecuted.

I was wrong.

Checking today when deciding whether to complain to the Ombudsman over OIA requests related to it, I noticed something important: s149C only came into force on July 1 this year. The government's financial year ends on June 30, so EQC was not required to produce a statement of performance expectations this year (it will however be required to produce one next year). There has been no breach of statutory reporting requirements, and EQC staff are not at fault. They may be at fault for all sorts of other things, but not for this.

(And in case anyone is wondering: no, I haven't received a demand for a correction, or any communication on the topic at all. I noticed I'd made a mistake, and it is significant enough to deserve a public correction).